Guest musician

Born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1975, Dirk Verbeuren began his musical training in elementary school with the violin which he played proficiently for seven years. His family moved to Paris, France in 1988, where he studied piano and electric guitar. In 1991, Verbeuren discovered his gift and passion for rhythm on a second-hand drumkit. He immediately began practicing, creating and performing with other musicians.

In 1993, Verbeuren moved to Nancy, France to study at the Music Academy International (MAI). Following his graduation, MAI promptly hired him as a drum professor while in his own time, he co-founded futuristic death metal outfit Scarve. Verbeuren's fine-tuned ear, impeccable musical memory, sensitivity to structure and ability to read/write rhythm made him a highly demanded session drummer overnight. In the following years, he recorded and toured with over a dozen bands, including Swedish metal act Soilwork which he permanently joined in 2005. Worldwide touring became the norm, including a coveted slot at the classic itinerant festival Ozzfest. Session work intensified as Verbeuren laid down drum tracks for numerous albums such as Aborted's Goremageddon, Sybreed's Antares and Warrel Dane's Praises To The War Machine.

In 2009, influential music software company Toontrack Music hired Verbeuren to contribute to their Metal Foundry drum library. Said Toontrack producer Nils Eriksson, "Dirk is absolutely one of the best, quickest and most professional drummers we've ever worked with. On top of that, he's a really nice and easy-going guy, which is equally as important." Verbeuren recorded with famed drummer/producer Nir Z (Genesis, John Mayer) and a long-term collaboration with Toontrack was established. This resulted in Verbeuren creating the first ever collection of MIDI metal beats and fills, released in three volumes called Library of the Extreme.

Tama Drums and Meinl Cymbals then hired Verbeuren to tour Europe as a soloist, performing drum clinics and masterclasses alone and together with world-renowned percussionist Pete Lockett (Björk, Peter Gabriel). Verbeuren also did multiple demos for Toontrack with David "Fingers" Haynes (Chaka Khan, Prince) and Richard Devine, appearing at Los Angeles' NAMM convention and the London International Music Show.

2010 was yet another busy year for Verbeuren. He recorded drums for revered artists Devin Townsend and Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah) as well as Anatomy of I featuring the legendary bass virtuoso Steve DiGiorgio. In early 2011, Verbeuren launched Bent Sea which sees him taking on multiple instruments as well as the roles of composer and lyricist. He went on to record with Naglfar and Jeff Loomis, and played two sold out live performances with Devin Townsend Project, immortalized on the By A Thread boxset. The next year, Verbeuren took on several highly successful Meinl/Tama drum workshop tours in China, France, Sweden, Germany, Poland and The Netherlands.

Verbeuren spent most of 2013 on the road supporting Soilwork's acclaimed double album The Living Infinite. He created his fourth Toontrack MIDI pack, Metal Beats, and produced new Bent Sea releases alongside Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury and Aborted vocalist Sven de Caluwé. In early 2014, Verbeuren stepped in for famed drummer Frost, performing two shows with black metal legends Satyricon. More touring with Soilwork culminated in the BluRay/DVD Live In The Heart Of Helsinki, released last March. The band's tenth studio album The Ride Majestic comes out worldwide on Nuclear Blast Records on August 28th, 2015.

Profiling himself as one of the pioneers in modern drum recording techniques, Verbeuren established his own high-tech facility, Die Crawling Studio, incorporating Toontrack's revolutionary music software.

Source: http://dirkverbeuren.com/about (10/2016)

On July 14th 2016, Megadeth announced Verbeuren was joining the band as their full time drummer.